I Was Adopted by the Villain Grand Duke Who Killed My Favorite Character - Chapter 16
Why on earth do they want to see me?
Frightened by the bustling crowd that resembled a marketplace, I slowly backed away. A maid who had closed the door at the right moment sighed in relief.
The maid’s complexion was pale as if she had stayed up for several nights. After catching her breath for a moment, the maid muttered in an admiring voice.
“It was incredible, wasn’t it?”
I quietly nodded.
‘What in the world.’
Judging by their clothes, they seemed to be high-ranking nobles, but they were different from the nobles I had seen so far. Aren’t nobles usually supposed to pursue elegance?
I remembered the nobles I had encountered at the Imperial Palace when I was a Sword Master. They whispered about me loud enough for me to hear.
“Oh my, is that woman the commoner Sword Master? Her way of walking is ridiculous.”
“I guess you can’t hide a commoner’s origins.”
“No matter how hard they try, can they really change their essence? I heard she’s just a barbarian who only knows the sword.”
The nobles didn’t include me in their circles because I was a commoner and a woman. How frustrating it was that they emphasized something called class.
They were truly the epitome of style over substance.
In contrast, the nobles I saw earlier had eyes that looked like they had just been rolling around in the streets.
‘Their appearance was strangely shabby too.’
They were just wearing clean clothes, but their hair was disheveled and their beards unkempt. It seemed like they had all rushed here at full speed as soon as they arrived at the Grand Duke’s residence.
Could it be that I just saw an illusion because I was tired?
“Let me see again.”
As I absentmindedly reached for the doorknob, several maids clung to me and stopped me.
“You can’t! Grand Princess, it’s like a battlefield out there right now!”
“Why did it become like that outside?”
“Well…”
The maids exchanged troubled glances with each other. Finally, one maid met my gaze and carefully began to speak.
“Actually, it’s because of the Grand Duke.”
Because the Grand Duke returned to the mansion without explaining the reason, the trip to the capital was canceled. The words the Grand Duke said to the vassals who asked about the reason for his return became the cause of this situation.
“They say the Grand Duke said he came back because he couldn’t leave the Grand Princess alone in the mansion.”
Other maids added one after another.
“Thanks to that, a rumor spread widely that the Grand Duke doesn’t want to be apart from the Grand Princess even for a moment.”
“I heard that in the future, the Grand Princess will become the golden string that controls the Grand Duke’s house.”
“It means that the real power in the Grand Duke’s house is the Imperial Princess.”
What nonsense is that?
The explanation for this absurd situation didn’t end there and continued.
“Everyone wants to see the Grand Princess who made the Grand Duke feel separation anxiety.”
“Separation… what?”
“Anyway, it became swarming with people in just one day.”
The maids wore expressions as if they had encountered pests that needed to be exterminated. They probably wouldn’t look at a pregnant cockroach with such horror.
Even after hearing the full explanation, I still couldn’t understand well.
‘Just the Grand Duke’s words caused this?’
Aren’t these high-ranking nobles’ bottoms too light? The maids looked at me pitifully as I failed to grasp the situation and said,
“The Grand Duke will resolve this.”
“Of course. All the power in the Grand Duchy is concentrated in the Grand Duke.”
“If we’re just careful until this situation calms down…”
But when will that be?
I sighed at the thought of being confined to the room indefinitely. Sen, who was watching me anxiously, whispered secretly from the other maids.
“Would you like to go to the backyard with me?”
“The backyard?”
“Yes. There won’t be any nobles there, and we can’t stay in this noise forever.”
The maids had prevented the nobles from entering the room using the Grand Duke’s orders as an excuse, but that was all. They couldn’t forcibly disperse the high-ranking nobles.
Sen clicked her tongue meaningfully and muttered,
“I wish they would all just die.”
“…”
I felt sorry that the maids’ hardship seemed to be my fault. I wondered who spread such nonsensical rumors about golden strings and whatnot.
“Then let’s go to the backyard together.”
Sen picked up a picnic basket and took me to the back door. As we moved away from the noisy commotion outside the door, I felt a bit better.
***
We succeeded in reaching the backyard of the mansion without being spotted by the nobles. Sen’s head tilted to the side as she felt the cool breeze. After watching Sen’s black hair fluttering in the wind, I shifted my gaze to her face. Sen, noticing my gaze, smiled brightly.
“Is there something on my face?”
“Yes.”
There is. Enormous dark circles. I reached out and pressed my thumb firmly against the darkened area under Sen’s eyes.
Sen looked very tired from dealing with the nobles all morning. Sen’s mouth loosened into a grin at my touch.
“Our Grand Princess is so kind.”
“You can sleep if you’re tired.”
“If I fall asleep, there won’t be anyone to protect the Grand Princess from the nobles.”
Sen, who had steeled herself, began to pluck flowers blooming nearby. Her two hands moved busily, seemingly intending to make a flower crown for me. The problem was that what Sen had plucked from the garden wasn’t just flowers.
‘She must be really tired.’
Mixed among the woven flowers were weeds showing their roots. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the weed roots with soil dropping from them. Sen, intoxicated with sleepiness, didn’t notice anything strange.
“Shall I put the flower crown on your head?”
“…Thank you.”
“Ta-da! Wow, you’re beautiful, Grand Princess.”
“Alright, I get it. Now, let’s sleep. Okay?”
I gently led Sen towards a tree shade where the sunlight was good. Sen, leaning against the tree trunk, rubbed her tired eyes.
Despite my repeated urging, Sen stubbornly refused to go to sleep.
Blinking her bloodshot eyes, Sen now volunteered to make a flower ring for me. Unlike her confident voice, her hands were fumbling on the ground.
“I’ll make you the prettiest ring in the world.”
“You mean a flower ring without a stem, right?”
“Come on~ Where can you find such a flower ring?”
You’re making one right now.
Meanwhile, due to Sen’s worsening condition, the shape of the ring became grotesque. It was a wonder how it maintained a circular shape while all sorts of things were tangled in it.
I swallowed a groan as I looked at the strange flower ring with even a beetle entangled in it.
“There! It’s finished. Shall I put it on for you?”
“If that’s what you want.”
I smiled with a mix of resignation as I extended my finger to Sen.
‘What a fake I am.’
I felt grateful yet sorry for the maids’ blind kindness towards me. I wondered if they would be hurt when they found out I wasn’t the real Imperial Princess.
“Sen, I want you to be happy.”
“I’m already happy.”
Just as Sen was about to put the ring on my finger, an unfamiliar voice interrupted.
“How dare you offer such a filthy thing to the Grand Princess!”
A man who appeared out of nowhere kicked Sen’s hand, causing the ring to roll on the ground.
The man bowed politely towards me.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Grand Princess. I’m Luke, the assistant to His Grace the Grand Duke.”
“Luke?”
“Yes. If I had known the Grand Princess was such an adorable person, I would have visited earlier.”
I looked the man up and down, taking in his appearance.
A navy blue uniform resembling a swallow’s tail and hair curling like seaweed. The man, smiling with fox-like narrow eyes, extended his hand to me.
“Now, if you would give me your hand to greet…”
I ignored the man’s words and checked if Sen was alright.
By then, Sen had fallen completely asleep. Fortunately, the hand that the man had kicked was unharmed without any scars.
‘Let her sleep a bit more.’
The man’s face, failing to get my attention, began to turn red. Having lost his patience, he abruptly approached me and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Grand Princess?”
I glared at him grumpily and opened my mouth.
“Why did you come here?”
“Well, I came because I heard rumors that the Grand Princess is a very intelligent person.”
“I see. If you know that, why don’t you leave now?”
“Grand Princess! Please don’t be like that and have a conversation with me!”
The man’s urgent voice was suddenly cut off, and the surroundings became quiet. Sensing something strange, I turned around and held my breath.
A blue blade was pressed against Luke’s neck as he was reaching out to me.
“Why haven’t you left yet?”
The gleaming blade dug into Luke’s frightened nape. As a thin line of blood trickled down his neck, Luke’s expression crumbled.
The Grand Duke, gripping the collar of the trembling Luke, spoke again in a cold voice.
“I’m sure I told everyone to leave once their business was done.”
“Y-Your Grace! I just wanted to briefly see the Grand Princess’s face…”
“I never gave permission.”
Fear clouded Luke’s face, which had been so confident when dealing with me. Luke immediately fell to his knees and buried his face in the ground.
‘That’s what you get for meddling.’
I wanted to tell the Grand Duke what this man had done. After all, Luke’s shoe print remained on Sen’s sleeping hand.
But feeling that saying such a thing now might not end well for Luke, I stepped forward slightly.
“Hello, Grand Duke.”
Barely acknowledging my greeting with a nod, the Grand Duke suddenly picked me up.
His hand supporting my bottom was much more stable than before.
“Why are you here at this hour? Isn’t it snack time now?”
“How did you know that?”
“I receive reports on your schedule. Who knows what kind of trouble you might cause if left alone. Your answer?”
“Umm.”
I glanced at the noble named Luke.
I wondered if the Grand Duke knew the state of things in front of my door right now. Reading something in my hesitant expression, the Grand Duke stroked my chin.
“Did the nobles come looking for you?”
“Exactly.”
I briefly explained the situation to the Grand Duke, who had grasped the matter with uncanny intuition. The Grand Duke’s expression, which had been calmly listening to the explanation, noticeably hardened.
Only then did the Grand Duke’s piercing blue eyes turn towards Luke, who was prostrated on the ground.
“Foolish ones. Did they not have the brains to understand when told not to cross the line?”
Shifting me to one arm, he raised his sword-wielding hand. The moment I saw the red aura gathering on the sword, my body moved on its own.
The Grand Duke was seriously trying to kill him!
As I grabbed the blue blade of the sword with my fingers, the Grand Duke’s movement stopped. I felt a stinging sensation on my palm where it touched the blade.
